Nestled in the heart of Indiana lies a facility with decades upon decades of stories to tell, the revered Anderson Speedway.
The Anderson, Ind., track plays host to one of the most exciting sprint car events of the year with the Little 500. The event has been a longstanding prelude to the legendary Indianapolis 500, taking place earlier in the weekend leading up to the historic IndyCar event.
However, pushing past the track’s enthralling sprint car history reveals a plethora of ties to stock car racing, and ASA in particular.
Anderson has almost always had a presence in the lifespan of the American Speed Association. In fact, ASA was founded in Anderson (or the neighboring town of Pendleton, depending on who you ask) in 1968.
With the birth of ASA in the late 1960s, it was only natural for Anderson Speedway – the hometown track – to become a regular stop on the schedule, first appearing in the ASA National Tour’s inaugural 1973 season.
Despite this, the history of stock car racing at Anderson Speedway predates ASA, with the first ever Redbud 400 being held in 1967 – a whole year before ASA was even conceived. In the years leading up to ASA’s takeover of the event, the Redbud 400 was sanctioned by the Automobile Racing Club of America, better known as ARCA.
ASA sanctioned the Redbud 400 from 1973 to 1999, before sanctioning of the event eventually fell to another series founded in Anderson, Ind., the Champion Racing Association (CRA).
CRA began overseeing the event in 2000 and technically still has a role in the event today. While the Redbud 400 has become a staple of the modern-day ASA STARS National Tour schedule since the series was revitalized in 2023, the event is still co-sanctioned with the CRA Super Series.
Much in the same way ASA started as a regional entity before ultimately becoming a national sensation, CRA has had a long history of being a regional short track sanctioning body. The modern-day CRA Super Series serves as one of the three regional tours under the ASA STARS National Tour umbrella.
Despite the long list of sanctioning body shake-ups over the years, one thing has remained consistent. The Redbud 400 has continuously produced a long list of impressive and even legendary winners.
The crown for the most Redbud 400 wins belongs to Mark Martin, a wheelman who certainly needs no introduction. The NASCAR Hall of Famer and four-time ASA champion is a four-time winner of the event.
A pair of drivers have won the event on three separate occasions: Bob Senneker and Scott Hansen. The legendary Dick Trickle has won the event twice. Other legendary names who won earlier renditions of the event include Tiny Lund, Butch Miller and Gary St. Amant.
Even when looking at more modern victors of the event, the Redbud 400 still has a trend of producing prolific champions. NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch won the event in 2009, with other NASCAR names such as Daniel Hemric, Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar all winning the event within the last couple of decades.
Two Redbud 400s have taken place under the new ASA STARS National Tour moniker, with Cole Butcher winning the contest in 2023 and Kyle Steckly entering this weekend as the defending winner after his 2024 victory.
The ASA STARS National Tour is set to return to Anderson Speedway this weekend for the 59th annual Redbud 400. Some of Super Late Model racing’s biggest names have entered, including Butcher and Steckly. Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, Derek Thorn and Carson Brown have all filed entries.
The 2025 rendition of the event has also drawn attention from some NASCAR names, with Hocevar filing entry for the event in a VanMeter Racing machine. Fellow NASCAR Cup Series star Ross Chastain has also been announced as grand marshal of the event.
The 59th annual Redbud 400 is slated for Saturday, July 26th at 8:05 pm local time. The race will be aired on TrackTV and will later be broadcasted on RACER Network.
